Densho Digital Archive - Tom I. Mine Interview (denshovh-mtom

<Begin Segment 16>

TI: And during this time, these first few days, as you started talking to people, can you describe the mood? Was it, was it, were people afraid or was it more angry? Or how would you describe that, that mood?

TM: You know, that's kind of hard thing to describe because we were stunned, the war broke out, and why did they take our parents? What was the reason? We had nobody to ask why they were taken or anything like that. And then I talked to the lawyers and they says, "Well, that's the way the government operates." Just come and pick you up, and if they think they have something they can pin on you, they pin it on you. But if you don't, then they'll release you later on, so you just got to wait and see.

TI: And so when you say you talked to lawyers, which lawyers did you talk with?

TM: Well, I talked to one of my, my lawyer that took care of my stuff. He would know something.

TI: Okay, so you thought that by, by talking with him, he might give you some insights, and he just said...

TM: No, I just left it that way, you know. I says, it's no use. But I knew that he never, he wasn't connected with Japan, things going on in Japan, because just, only thing about Japan was our family, I mean, his family.

TI: So this is, so they take away the Isseis, the community leaders, so for the Japanese and Japanese American community, did new leaders emerge, or who took...

TM: No, I don't think so. They just let it go as, just day by day, that was it. So we were at war at Japan, so there's nothing we can do.

TI: So how about local, like a Nisei organization like the JACL. Did they become active?

TM: I don't know. I wasn't connected with JACL that much when it was going on, so I didn't know exactly what was going on, but I guess they held meetings and this and that, but nothing came out of it. Just if you're, you're afraid to do something, because if you think you're bucking against the United States, they're gonna take you. So they were just sitting back and see what's gonna happen, I think, most of the Nisei leaders.